The local news did a story on residents who complained about bikers speeding down a canyon road, ignoring the parked school bus of loading children. When the police pulled over a biker speeding by the bus at thirty to forty mph, his response, “I had cars buzz by me within a matter of feet…that’d be a lot more dangerous of an issue.”

What is it about biking that makes some people think the rules of the road don’t apply to them? I agree, cars can be a problem but it’s time to address the attitudes that go into the danger of bikers.

1. Fixating on a goal: You have a goal to go so many miles in so many minutes and that bus, jogger, stop sign will slow you down. You cannot lose your momentum. You take a quick glance around and decide you have enough space and time to make it so you speed through. I’ve seen bikers speed in between joggers without so much as a ‘coming through.’

2. Right to the road: Bikers have a right to be on a road. But the right to be on a road, doesn’t mean you will be safe on the road. Check out this video. These bikers are clearly in the right but this is a blind corner, no shoulder, and popular place for motorcyclists to speed at. Being right didn’t matter as they picked the gravel out of their skin.

3. Oblivious to everything: You’ve got your music cranked up so you can hear it over the traffic and your having a great day. You don’t even notice the car you just pulled out in front of. You and your buddy are riding side by side down the road eagerly discussing last night’s Bachelor completely unaware of the other bike and cars lining up behind you waiting to pass.

4. Cars are worse than bikes: Whether it’s the pollution or the bad behavior, bikers sometimes think that they’re better than cars. So by default whatever they do cannot be as bad as a car.